The gift that says it all: bad taste

Some of us really try our best to embrace the true spirit of Christmas.

Meanwhile, many of us also succumb to our basic human foibles when it comes to the more material aspects of this particular holiday. And this manifests itself in our gift-giving habits, which according to a recent poll, may be in very bad taste.

For those of you who have ever re-wrapped a gift to give to someone else, or replaced a present because you ate it or drank it before giving it to its intended owner, or even waited 'til the post-Christmas holiday sales before buying a gift, you are not alone.

In an online survey conducted by Buckley's, about 874 Canadians replied to a poll called Buckley's Gift-Giving Habits in Bad Taste. The results show that Canadians may not be as polite and well intentioned as we would lead the rest of the world to believe.

Almost half of the respondents, exactly 42 per cent, said they have "regifted," meaning they had re-wrapped a present they had received and given it to somebody else. If you are guilty of this particular offence, bear in mind that you can run the risk of regifting a present and giving it back to the original gift-giver.

Always remember who gave you the original gift.

Thirty-seven per cent of the poll respondents said they had succumbed to temptation and opened a food or beverage gift meant for somebody else. This usually means another trip to the store to replace the gift but is generally worth it at the time temptation calls.

In perhaps the furthest thing away from the true spirit of Christmas, almost 40 per cent of the respondents said they try to guess the dollar value of a gift, and in return they'll buy something in the same price range. Over 20 per cent actually take back gifts to the store if they find out beforehand what they are getting in return.

But perhaps one of the worst Christmas gift-giving situations is to be stuck without a present when surprised with a gift.

Guys get points for their honesty here, after 66 per cent of male respondents said they would just admit they did not have a present. Women, on the other hand, either try to give a gift that was meant for somebody else or mumble some excuse about the present being somewhere else.